Going Out to Congo River Mini Golf
Parking your Transportation Congo River Mini Golf is its own little piece of property on Colonial not too far east of Alafaya. It’s very hard to miss the sign while driving, however, there is only one entrance and it is much easier to reach when heading west on Colonial rather than east. The parking lot is behind the mini golf course and is very small. Despite this, it is typically never full and parking a motor vehicle there shouldn’t be an issue. If it is full (Friday nights at 9pm especially), the parking lot next door at the Chili’s is much bigger and also typically has spots open. As for bikers, there are no bike racks in the Congo River parking lot, but there are a few in the plaza next door where the Chili’s is as well. These bike racks are in the inner section of the plaza behind both Chili’s and Congo River spread throughout the plaza. Paying for Your First Round Once you’ve parked, you can enter the Congo River grounds and pay for your game(s). The payment area is to the immediate left of the entrance from Colonial and is on a wooden walkway above a bunch of closed-off water where there are baby crocodiles and turtles that you can feed if you put coins into a vending machine for food. You can pay for one mini golf game or multiple rounds through if you feel like it and you can also get your hands on a score card and a pencil/pen for free to use while playing. Adult tickets cost $13.49, children 9 and under cost $11.99, and children 4 and under can go in for free. Once you’ve paid, you get to pick out a gold club and golf ball of your choice. Each ball and club is part of a set of multiple different colors and you don’t need to match colors if you don’t want to. The colors available for both are black, pink, red, light blue, dark blue, green, yellow, orange, and purple. You pick these up to the left of where you pay for your night just before heading in for your game. Figuring Out the Course Each course is slightly different and increases in difficulty and complexity as you go through. There are various obstacles in your way on each course that become somewhat more intrusive each time you move forward through the 18 holes. These obstacles start out as simple rocks in the ground and eventually escalate into vertically-curved courses, forks in the road, and holes that lead to an extended course further down your path. It may seem confusing at first, but the path you follow with each successive course is fairly linear so long as you follow the direction the course ends. This will take you up and down sets of stairs, into a fake tunnel, and across a bridge over water. As you’re going through, you will most likely run into someone else playing as well, whether they are in front of you or behind you. If they are in front, it’s best to play a bit slowly (especially if they have a larger number of people playing than you do) so you don’t keep catching up to them and having to wait for them to finish their course. You can also go on ahead of them if you want, but then you miss out on a course or two doing so. If they are behind you, it’s best to see if they want to go ahead of you so they don’t end up waiting behind you and (in some rare cases) getting frustrated with you/your group. Once you reach the end of the course, you send your golf ball down one final hole that returns it to the main payment building which is now right in front of you since you’ve completed the circle around the entire course of 18 holes. Misc. If you only paid for one round and want to go again, the employees from the booth you originally paid at will be in sight and able to charge you for more rounds if you wish. At which point, you go around again and can get a fresh score card as well. If you’re done for the night, you return your golf clubs to the employees at the station and can give them your score card to display or to print out for you. If you don’t want to do that and if you don’t want the card anymore, there is a trash can right there for you to throw it out. There is also a vending machine right there if you are thirsty after a full round of mini golf. If you’re done for the night, you can head out from where you came in and find your transportation wherever you left it/wherever it is picking you up.